Page 66 of Cuckoo

‘Overruled.’

For the first time, Grosvenor looks shaken. This footage is obviously something that she did not know Dodgson had access to.

I blink at the grainy CCTV footage, the ache in my head creeping forward to a point in my forehead. Grosvenor is still as a hawk beside me, her hands folded carefully in front of her as the footage sits in a mocking freeze-frame in front of us.

‘Please note the date and timestamp here,’ Dodgson explains, pointing to the bottom right-hand corner of the footage: 18 September 2024, 5.07 p.m.

The day I met Noah.

‘Before we play this footage, can you confirm the timingsof Miss Arundale’s scheduled shift that day?’ Dodgson asks Joseph.

‘Yes, I have a copy of the timetable from that day. Claire was in to work a two ’til close. Ten p.m.,’ he clarifies.

‘I’d also like to establish that the two people we see in this footage are, quite clearly, Claire Arundale and Noah Coors.’ Dodgson points his finger again at the screen and then the footage begins to play.

I’m standing in the wine aisle, and I’m wearing a Morrisons uniform, sorting out the bottles on the shelves.

‘This is…’ I whisper to Grosvenor, but she cuts me off with a raised hand, eyes not leaving the screen. I’m not even sure she’s breathing, her chest is so still.

I try not to fling myself across the room, the desire to cover the screen with my body suddenly overwhelming me. Instead, I sit back and watch Noah approach me on the footage. He looks gorgeous. Seeing him on-screen like this makes him look like a movie star. And to be honest, this bizarre fictionalised setting is only adding to the cinematic quality of what I’m seeing. We appear to speak, though there is no sound. I watch myself walk him halfway along the aisle and hold up a bottle of red wine. I appear to be speaking about it and Noah smiles and takes it, adding it to his basket. Then, I show him a white wine bottle and he takes that, too, still speaking to me. I watch as he strolls off-screen.

A new crack of pain slices its way through my left temple. Moments later, the me on-screen picks up another bottle of wine and follows him, leaving the frame.

The footage then cuts to the store front and we can seeNoah leaving, having paid for his bags of shopping. A minute later, there I am, appearing to follow him out. The wine bottle is now gone from my hands, discarded somewhere between leaving the wine aisle and exiting the store. The footage stops.

‘And that was when Miss Arundale left?’ Dodgson asks Joseph.

‘There’s no footage of her returning that day. So I think she left at that point and did not return, yes.’

‘And is it fair to say that from the footage we have just seen, it seems Miss Arundale and Mr Coors had a professional interaction, and Miss Arundale then followed him out of the store uninvited?’ Dodgson continues.

‘It could appear that way, yes,’ Joseph replies.

‘No further questions.’ Dodgson resumes his seat. Grosvenor stands. ‘Just one question from me.’ She smiles at Joseph warmly and I see his shoulders visibly drop as he relaxes.

‘There was no audio on the tape,’ she comments.

‘Correct. Our CCTV records without audio,’ Joseph confirms.

‘So it is very much possible that when we watch my client speaking with Mr Coors and handing him the wine bottle, he has asked her to leave and meet him at a nearby coffee house?’

‘Yes, that is always possible.’ Joseph nods.

‘Thank you, Mr Miles. That is all.’

He nods at me, a small smile on his face as though we are friends, and leaves the stand. My entire body is tense, but to my great alarm I notice that beside me, for the first time, Grosvenor is just as tense as I am.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

‘Claire, this next part is going to be the hardest for you, okay?’ Grosvenor is speaking to me in a soothing tone of voice. I look at her and notice that the dark purple rings beneath my eyes are reflected on her face, and her hair is sticking out at the sides. She looks like she hasn’t slept. I wonder if this trial has been keeping her awake at night like it has me. The thought touches me briefly, the idea that someone would care about me so much that my possible fate keeps them awake. But I remind myself it’s her job, and the real thing that’s keeping her awake is concern for her own reputation. The CCTV footage from yesterday rattled her, I know it did. I must accept that I am, largely, alone. I was alone before I met Noah, and now I find myself alone again, deceived by the man I’m in love with.

‘Noah is going to testify, and it’s going to be incredibly difficult for you to listen to. It’s going to be emotional and altogether shit. I can’t sugar-coat this for you,’ Grosvenor tells me .

My eyes are welling with tears already. I’m so afraid of what I will hear my fiancé say about me, about us and our relationship. ‘He’ll be talking about you, and he’ll be talking about Lilah, and it’s not going to be fun for any of us. You have to remain composed, okay, Claire? Can you do that?’

I nod because what else can I do?

‘At least this is the end for Dodgson’s team. Noah is the last witness, and Dodgson will make his closing statement and try to paint you as a murderer, but we’re going to ignore everything he says because it’s all bullshit, okay?’

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